The urgency to avoid an airspace capacity crunch in the Middle East will be the focus of the Doha Aviation Summit which opened today (October 30) at the Grand Hyatt Hotel.

“Yes, we can avoid it (a capacity crunch) but we have to work on it now,” said Graham Lake, director general of Canso (the Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation) who will address delegates at the invitation-only gathering at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Doha.

More than 400 new aircraft will be delivered to Gulf-based airlines alone in the coming years, putting added pressure on already-busy airspace in the region, he added.

Qatar Airways is one of the world’s fastest-growing airlines operating from the Gulf and airline executives have for some time identified airspace congestion as a critical issue to be addressed in order for planned expansion to continue.

Canso, whose members are responsible for supporting some 85 per cent of world air traffic, brokered the Red Sea Declaration, a seven-point plan aimed at improving the use of airspace over the Middle East.

There is a huge prize in economic and environmental terms to be gained from making air traffic management across the Middle East more efficient, although there are significant challenges, said Lake.

“It’s a hugely complex picture because it involves a wide range of players, from the airlines and air traffic control to governments,” said Lake. “Some players have a clear common interest in change, while others have competing interests and quite different attitudes. Our job is to build understanding step by step.”

Lake added that the Doha Aviation Summit was a “very useful forum” at which to promote the CANSO message.

“My message is that we all need to understand that we are part of a global system and that we are interdependent. Everybody has to work together to get the benefits that are out there. Progress to date has already been remarkable, but there is a lot that needs to be done and there is no time to lose,” he added.

Nicholas Watson, director of Aviation at event organisers naseba, said that the question of reforming airspace management was just one of the major issues to be addressed at the Doha Aviation Summit.

“Airlines in the Gulf have revolutionised the industry and this particular issue is both a reflection of their amazing success and a challenge that needs to be addressed,” he said.

“Doha has attracted an outstanding line-up of industry leaders who will be looking at a range of critical issues, from the lessons learned from the recession to regulatory issues and aviation and the environment,” he explained.

The Doha Aviation Summit will feature the Leaders in Aviation Awards which will recognise and reward individuals and organisations for their contribution to the industry. - TradeArabia News Service